Literature in Ancient Bengal

Early Phase

Though the earliest language spoken in
this region was probably an Austroasiatic language with Dravidian
and tibeto-burman superstratum, we know nothing about the songs and
stories composed in this language. Even though pANini mentions
eastern grammarians, nothing has survived of this scholarly
literature either. The first attested writing comes from the maurya period at
mahAsthAnagaDh.a where a brAhmI inscription shows an example of
contemporary mAgadhI prAkRta. The situation of our knowledge
hardly improves in the succeeding gupta period, even though the
statements of chinese scholars visiting bengal (e.g. fa hien in 5th
century) points to a vibrant buddhist academic community. It is not
known what language the name of the tribe comes from, but an Austric
root Bonga meaning sun-god has been claimed, as also a Dravidian tribe
Bang from around 1000 BC.

Before the pAla dynasty

It is only from a later period that we
meet some of these scholars as they have left their names on
buddhist treatises copied and preserved in tibet: an important one
amongst them was shIlabhadra, disciple of dharmapAla and teacher of
Hieun-Tsang (visited in 7th century), and who became the head of nAlandA. In the heydays of
nAlanda, a lot of scholars lived and worked here, but we often do
not know where they were from. A famous grammarian candragomin,
also the author of nyAYasiddhAloka (who may not have been the same
person as the vajrayAnI candragomin) was from varendrI.
gauD.apAda, who wrote gauD.apAdakArikA, sAMkhyakArikA, and
uttaragIta, and who was the teacher of the teacher of
shaMkarAcAryya, was probably also a bengali. Eastern India was
also known for its scholarship on elephant treatment, and it is
possible that pAlakApya, to whom hastyAYurveda is attributed, was a
real person (coincidentally, pAla of dravidian origin could mean an
elephant) living somewhere on the banks of the brahmaputra. The
evidence also points to widespread scholarship in the traditional
disciplines: of the vedic schools, the vAsaneYI branch of
yajurvedic tradition was the most common.

When it came to literature, there was a separate style called
gauD.I which was known for its use of sounds, as described by
vANabhaTTa: zleSaprAYamudIcyeSu pratIcyeSvarthamAtrakam | utprekSA
dAkSiNAtyeSu gauD.eSvakSaraDambaram || navo-rtho jAtiragrAmya
zleSo-kliSta sphuTo rasaH | vikaTAkSarabandhazca kRtsnamekatra
duSkaram || daNDI also contrasted the overuse of the figures of
speech and complicated twists of meaning of the gauD.I style to the
smoother flowing and punny vaidarbhI style; though bhAmaha seemed
to prefer the former. The highly ornamented style of the
inscriptions by lokanAtha at
tripurA and bhAskaravarmA at
nidhAnapura attest to a similar devlopment in royal proclamations.
It seems that a mAgadhI style developed out of the gauD.I at later
times.

Similarly, when it came to plays, bharata mentions four major
styles: avantI, paJcala mAdhyama, dakSinAtyA, and oDra mAgadhI, the
last of which was practiced in eastern India. Thus, by the time of
zazAGka, eastern India was
already on its way to developing independently in its language,
literature, and arts; though a distinct bengali identity can not to
be seen at this stage yet.

The pAla period

The actual rise of he bengali identity probably had to await the
pAla dynasty, many of whose ministers like darbhapANi, kedAramizra, and guruvamizra were renowned
scholars themselves. It was during this time that literature was
composed mainly in pure or buddhist saMskRta, with a strong
presence of zaurasenI apabhraMsa. prAkRta was not pronounced
‘properly’ according to rAjazekhara, so much so that he imagined
sarasvatI saying ‘brahman viJjApaYAmi tvAM svAdhikArajihAsaYA |
gauD.astyajatu vA gAthAmanyA vA-stu sarasvatI’. The language of
the common man evolved through a mAgadhI dialect to the earliest
form of bengali preserved in the slightly later caryyApada, though zaurasenI dialects were
probably understood easily. saMskRta poetic creations is evident
in the inscriptions from this period. An early form of the bengali
script is attested in manuscripts from this period. However, the
pure sanskritic influence increased in scholarly writing over time,
though some buddhist traditions might have maintained the other
traditions. It should also be pointed out that in this period,
bengali tradition includes almost all of what is now bihar, and no
attempt has been made here to distinguish the two.

The literary produce of this period includes writings by one or
several abhinandas. rAmacarita by
abhinanda (during the time
hAravarSa) contains devImAhAtmya by
hanumAna. This was later followed by rAmacarita (probably finished
under the reign of madanapala)
by sandhyAkara nandI, son of prajApati
nandI, son of piNAka nandI of puNDravardhanapura, a poem that
applies equally to the story of rAma and to the recent history
since the kaivarta revolt. It is
not clear whether kSemIzvara, author of caNDakaushika and
naiSadhAnanda, was in the court of mahIpAla
of bengal or mahIpAla of gurjara
pratihAra. nItivarma, author of kIcakavadha, may also have been a
bengali, and similar unsubstantiated claims have been made for
vizAkhadatta who wrote mudrArAkSasa.

In addition, the oldest collection of poems and snippets, called
kavIndravacanasamuccaYa, was probably a bengali creation. It
collects poems by kAlidAsa, amaru, bhavabhUti, rAjazekhara, gauD.a
abhinanda, D(/h?)imboka, kumudAkara mati, dharmakara, buddhAkara
gupta, madhuzIla, vAgoka, lalitoka, vinaYadeva, chittapa, vandya
tathAgata, jaYIka, vitoka, vidyAkA (or vijjokA), vinaYadeva,
vIRyamitra, vaiddoka, zubhaGkara, zrIdhara nandI, ratipAla, yogoka,
siddhoka, so(n)noka, hiGgok, vaidyadhanya, aparAjita rakSita, and
others. Though the story of kRSNa's dalliance with the cowherd girls
(gopIs) of vraja has a long tradition, and the phlosohphical and erotic
aspects already highly developed in the c. 6th century
harivaMsa and 10thrAdhA and kRSNa is probably
(there are isolated instances of
idols of kRSNa and a lady before) in an inscription
by vanamAlavarma, king of
kAmarUpa, and certainly in an inscription by bhojavarma; and it appears in poems
in this collection. The name rAdhA does appear in gAthAsaptazatI
composed during hAla, the sAtavAhana king from the
first century, and it also appears sporadically in prior prAkrRt literature.
Notable contemporary mentions are found in pre-8th century
bhaTTanArAYaNa's venisaMhAra,
10th century abhinavagupta's
dhvanyAlokalocana, kSemendra's dhavatatacarita from around 1066, and
in a benedictory verse found in inscriptions of paramAra vAkpati muJja
of mAlva around 973–994. This story, of course, reached prominence
in the gItagovinda much later (12th
century), and further developed by vidyApati and
caNDidAsa in the 14th
and 15th centuries.

The saMskRta philosophical writings of this period include prakAza
(a TIkA on kezavamizra's chAndogya-pariziSTa) written during the
rule of devapAla by nArAYaNa, son
of goNa, son of umApati of northern rADh.a; nyAYakandalI (a TIkA on
the bhASya by prazastapAda of the vaizeSika sUtra
padArthadharmasaMgraha) written around 980 AD for kAYastha
pANDudAsa by zrIdharabhaTTa (who also wrote advaYasiddhi,
tattvaprabodha, tattvasaMvAdinI, and saMgrahaTIkA), son of baladeva
and AbbokA in bhUrizreSThI in sjayapalaouthern rADh.a; lakSaNAvalI,
kiraNAvalI, kusumAJjalI, and Atmatatvaviveka by udaYana who is mentioned in
the traditional mythology of brahmin origin in bengal; and
yogavaziSThasaMkSepa by abhinanda.

The grammatical writings include vivaraNapaJjikA jinendrabuddhi,
tantrapradIpa and dhAtupradIpa by maitreYarakSita, and kAmadhenu by
subhUticandra, though whether these authors and vimalamati were
bengali has not been determined. jitendrIYa and bAlaka probably lived in bengal in
this period, and wrote about religion and morals; and yogloka may
have been a predecessor to them. kalyAnavarmA of vyAghrataTI wrote
sarAvalI, a treatise on astrology.

In medicine, one finds cakrapANi datta and his brother bhAnu, son
of nArAYaNa, the head of kitchens of a king of gauD.a, possibly
referring to jaYapAla or
naYapAla. According
to tradition, this cakrapANi datta of the lodhravali kulIna dynasty
and student of naradatta was from vIrabhUma. He wrote
AYurvedadIpikA (also called carakatAtparyyadIpikA), bhAnumatI (TIkA
on zuzruta), zabdacandrikA, dravyaguNasaMgraha, and
cikitsAsaMgraha. surezvara (in an unidentified king bhImapAla's
court), son of bhadrezvara (doctor in rAmapAla' court), son of devagaNa
(doctor in govindacandra's
court) wrote zabdapradIpa, vRkSAYurveda, and lohapaddhati (or
lohasarvasva). vaGgasena, son of gadAdhara of kAJjikA, wrote
cikitsAsArasaMgraha. Just as doubtful is whether aruNadatta,
vijaYarakSita, vRndakuNDa, zrIkaNThadatta, and gaYadAsa were bengalis.
It is extremely doubtful if mAdhava,
author of rugavinizcaYa and nidAna was a bengali; on the other
hand, nizcalakara, who wrote ratnaprabhA, probably was and lived
during rAmapAla.

The buddhist writings are difficult both to date and place; with
the universities in bengal,
people arrived from all around to work here. Even when the tibetan
sources give place names like j(/s)Ahora or uDDIYAna, it is not
clear what they refer to. To add to that, some personal names are
repeated so often, that identities remain in doubt.

Thus we find buddhist teachers like zAntirakSita who composed
aSTatathAgatastotra, vajradharasaMgItabhagavatastotraTIkA, and
paJcamahopadeza; bodhisattva who wrote books on saptatathAgata; and
zAntarakSita who composed books like tattvasaMgraha, vAdanyAYavRtti
vipaJcitArtha, and madhyama kAlaGkAra kArikA; all of whom may have
been the same person. He was born during the reign of gopAla, and he died during dharmapAla's reign, and had
traveled to tibet under khri-srang-lde-vtsan. He was probably
almost contemporary of sarorUhavajra/padmavajra, kamalazIla, and
padmasambhava.

kukkuripAda from around the 8th–9th century might be the same as
kukur pA, and composer of some songs in caryAgIti. kambalapAda or
kambalAmbarapAda composed kambalagItika and some songs in
caryAcaryavinizcaYa. zavarIpAda, who may
have been the same as
zavarIzvara, kumAracandra, taGkadAsa or daGkadAsa, and nAgabodhi of
shivasera village who composed yamArisiddhacakrasAdhana were also
from this period.

One again finds a lot of buddhist thinkers starting in th 10th
century, many of whom may have been from bengal. The style of
poetry used when worshipping the goddess in bengal is quite clear
in compositions of scholars such as dharmAkaramati, zavarapAda,
kRSNapAda, ratnAkara, zubhAkara, kuladatta, advaYavajra,
lalitagupta, kumudAkaramati, padmAkara, abhaYAkara gupta, guNAkara
gupta, karuNAcala, kokaradatta, anupama rakSita, cintAmaNi datta,
sumati bhadra, maGgala sena, and ajita mitra.

At the end of 10th century, we find jetAri, son
of garbhapAda, and teacher of atIza zrIjJyAna
dIpaGkara. (There seems to be a different jetAri sometime later.) The
latter was born in around 980
AD to kalyAnazrI and prabhAvatI in vikramaNipura, died in tibet at
73 years of age, and may not have been identical to the other
dIpaGkaras (e.g. dIpaGkara bhadra, dIpaGkara rakSita, or dIpaGkara
candra). jJanazrI mizra, abhaYAkara gupta, divAkara candra,
kumAravajra, ratnAkara zAnti, dAnazIla, vibhuti candra,
prajJAvarmA, mokSAkara gupta, puNDarIka or jJanavajra, and lui pA
who may have been the same as mInanAtha matsyndranAtha were
probably only slightly later. mInanAtha's student gorakSanAtha and
his student jAlandharIpAda and his student virUpA followed. During
mahIpAla's time, we find tilapa /
tillapa / tillipya / tilipA / tillopA / tailopa / tollapA / telopA
/ tilopA / tailikapAda / teliyogI or prajJAvarmA / prajJAbhadra
from TsATigÃo (caTTagrAma). His main student was nAro /
nAropA / nArotpA / nAD.opA / nAD.a / nAD.apAD.A or jJAnasiddhi
yazobhadra. A student of jAlandharIpAda, kRSNa / kRSNapAda / kahNu
pA / kAhNa pA is also important. Others from this period include
dArika, kila pA, krmAra, vINA pA, dharmapAda or guNDArIpAda,
kaGkaNa, and garbhapAda.

Confusingly, there are a couple zAntidevas, one of whom is probably
a mahAyAnI from 8th century saurashtra, whereas the other is
probably a vajrayAnI tAntrik from 11th century who wrote
shrIguhyasamAjamahAyogatantravalavidhi, sahajagIti, and
cittacaitanyazamanopAYa. The latter had alternate names rAutu or
bhusuku, and may have been identical to a poet of caryyAgIti. Similarly zAntipA of these songs
may be identical to zAntipAda who wrote books like
sukhaduHkhadvaYaparityAgadRSti. One can also guess that saraha
rAhulabhadra is identical to the folk poet sarahapAda.

These scholars mainly wrote about vajrayAna, and some composed
dohAs and songs. However, a few reflect on philosophy, especially
scientific philosophy. Thus, during dharmapAla,
haribhadra, in
abhisamaYAlaGkArAvaloka, tried a synthesis of the madhyamika school
of nAgArjuna and yogAcAra school of maitreYanAtha. Other notables
from roughly the same period are buddhazrIjJana or buddhajJAnapAda,
jinamitra (who, along with dAnazIla and zIlendrabodhi, wrote a
saMskRta-tibbetan dictionary).

The songs collected in the later caryyApada (or caryyAgIti or
caryyAcaryyavinizcaYa, songs about how to live life or decide
between what should or should not be done: available
here)
were by such poets as
lui-pA, kAhna-pA, jAlandharI-pA or hAD.i-pA, zavarI-pA, bhusuku,
tantrIpAda, who were probably living between the tenth and 12th
centuries. The songs are mainly in mAtrAvRtta with antyamila.
They were set to rAgas. The paYAra (or lAcAD.I) metre was probably
derived from the metres seen here (padakulaka). The language is clearly
bengali, but sometimes influenced by zaurasenI and maithilI. The
zaurasenI dohAs written by kAhNa, sarahapAda,
and dAka (dAkArNava) also influenced bengali literature in this
period, they also show influence of local bengali and maithilI
dialects.

Just as the previous pala period saw the
rise of bengali literature, the sena period
was probably the high point of saMkRta literature in Bengal. Even
then, it's actual literary output was little. This was mainly a
time of a reconstruction of hinduism in bengal, but actual new
scientific and philosophical thought seems very limited in bengal
proper. One should also point out that occasionally there is a
problem identifying a person as native of orissa or bengal/bihar
region: here it has been chosen to treat a personage of the sena
court as a ‘bengali’ even if there is dispute as to their
birthplace.

In mAnasollAsa (or abhilaSitArthacintyamaNi), a collection made in
1051 zaka year for
cAlukyarAja somezvara III of gujarat, we find some bengali songs
about kRSNa with the gopIs in vRndAvana and about the avatAras of
viSNu. In the fourteenth century collection of avahaThTa
(apabharMza) poems, prAkRta paiGgala, a few
poems are probably from this old period in bengal: they are
descriptions of simple lives and loves, or about gods in human
terms. Similarly, some zlokas in vidagdhamukhamaNdala are probably
from this period. Same may be true of a poem in
zeka-zubhodaYA.

Based on the absence of noticeable turkish influence, and the
society being described, common sayings attributed to Dak, khanA,
and zubhaGkar probably contain sayings that originate in the
ancient period, though their language is much more modern. The
same may be true of the popular stories like that of cÃd
sadAgar-lakhIndara-behulA-dhanapati-lahanA-khullanA-zrImanta-kAlketu
in caNDImaGgal-manasAmaGgal, lAusena and
king gopIcandra, his mother maYanAmatI, and his wives aduna-paduna in songs of
gopIcÃda. However, by
the time of their earliest attestation, these all belong to the medieval period in the history of
bengal.

The emphasis on sounds and word play of the previous period of
saMskRta poetry seems to have given way to a more idea based
structure. The sena court supported and the kings have been
compared to kRSNa himself, and, for the first time, the kRSNa that
had close physical relationship with rAdhA. In retrospect, this
humanization of the sacred gods and advent of the concept of bhakti
paved the way for the religious humanism which was to become the
hallmark of hinduism in the medieval times. Perhaps the greatest
example of this is gItagovinda a saMskRta poem that is
stylistically very close to bengali. This was composed by jaYadeva (12th cent), a poet born of bhojadeva
and vAmA (or rAmA or rAdhA) devI in kindubilva, and husband of
dancer padmAvatI (who may have been promised to the puri temple
when young). Even though this is not the first mention of rAdhA, it is the text which popularized these
stories all over India. jaYadeva also wrote a few songs in
apabhraMza, and a few of his songs (which suggests he was a
paJcopAsak smArta brAhmaNa rather than vaiSNava) are collected in
SaduktikarNAmRta, some of which are even of
vIRarasa.

Sanskrit tradition at the sena court did
encompass philosophical treatises dealt, but they dealt not with nyAYa
as in earlier periods, but rather with mimAMsA: for example
mimAMsAsarvasva by halAYudha and
tautAtitamatatilaka by bhavadeva bhaTTa. bAlabalabhI resident
siddhalagrAmavAsI (in rADh.a) sAmavedIYa kauThumazAkhAdhyAYI sAvarNagotrIYa
bhavadeva bhaTTa ‘dvitIYa varAha’ was one of the greatest
scholars of this period, and wrote about horAzAstra (none extant)
and dharmazAstra (including vyAvahAratilaka, prAYazcittaprakaraNa
or prAYazcitta nirUpaNa, and chAndogyakarmAnuSThAn paddhati or
dazakarmapaddhati or saMskArapaddhati or
dazakarmadIpikA). pAribhadrIYa mahAmahopAdhyAYa jimUtavAhana wrote kAlaviveka,
vyAvahAramAtRkA, and dAYabhAga, the last of which still defines the
succession law for bengali hindus. campAhaTTIYa mahAmahopAdhyAYa
aniruddha, teacher of vallAla sena, wrote hAralatA and
pitRdaYita. vallAla sena himself wrote AcArasAgara, pratiSThAsAgara,
dAnasAgara, and adbhutasAgara (started in 1168 AD, finished by his son
lakSmaNa
sena). dAmuka putra guNaviSNu wrote chAndogyamantrabhASya.
mahAdharmAdhyakSa mahAdharmAdhikRta dharmAgArAdhikArI halAYudha,
son of vatsagotrIYa dhanaJjaYa and ujalA, was another important
scholar in lakSmaNasena's court and wrote brAhmaNasarvasva (about
zuklayajurvedIYa kANvazAkhAdhyAYI brAhmaNas), mimAMsAsarvasva,
vaiSNavasarvasva, zaivasarvasva, and paNDitasarvasva. grammarian
and lexicographer puruSottama may have
been different people: the
latter wrote trikANDazeSa, hArAvali, varNadezanA, and dvIrUpakoSa,
of which varNadezanA describes difficult spellings due to the
gauD.IYa script. Lexicographer artiharaputra vandyaghaTIYa
sarvAnanda wrote TIkAsarvasva (1159 AD),
a resource for early local
words, and one that collects zlokas from extant sources, some of
which like sAhityakalpataru, devIzataka, vidagdhamukhamaNDala,
vRndAvanayamaka, and zrIpovyoka's vAsanAmaJjarI could conceivably
be from bengal.

This period also saw the composition of
naiSadhacarita by zrIharSa. Even though
bengali tradition declares his father's
name as medhAtithi (or tithimedhA), we know that he is the son of
zrIhIra and mAmalladevI, and it is not even clear whether he is a
bengali. naiSadhacarita is very much in the gauD.I style with its
prevalence of sound play like anuprAsa, and many of its puns are
based on peculiarities of eastern pronounciation (equivalence of z,
S, and s, of j and y, and of N and n). The same goes for its
description of rice and other food, and the marriage rituals. zrIharSa also wrote in
praise of a gauD.a king (could be vijaYasena), and books like
narasAhasAMka carita, sthairya vicAra prakaraNa, arNava varNanA,
zivazaktisiddha, chindaprazasti, zrIvijaYaprazasti. He also had a
treatise on the khaNDanakhaNDakhAdya philosophy.

Bengali tradition also claims bhaTTanArAYaNa,
author of veNIsaMhAra as a bengali. The same may be true of murArI
mizra, author of anargharAghava, though in either case, evidence is
scarce. Before the 15th century, sAgaranandI mentions a lot of
plays by bengalis, with names like kIcakabhIma, pratijJAbhIma,
zarmiSThApariNaYa, rAdhA, satyabhAMA, keliraivataka, USAharaNa,
devImahAdeva, urvazImardana, nalavijaYa, mAyAmadAlasA, unmatta
candragupta, mAYAkApAlika, mAYAzakunta, madanikAkAmukA,
jAnakIrAghava, rAmAnanda, kekaYIbharata, ayodhyAbharata, vAlibadha,
rAmavikrama, and mArIca vancitaka, but it is difficult to place
exact times and places to these.

A few sanskrit poetic collections are also available from this
period. The foremost amongst these, saduktikarNAmRta (or sUktikarNamRta) was
collected in 1206 AD, probably under the patronage of keshavasena, by zrIdharadAsa, son
of zrIvaTudAsa. This collection from 854 (and a few unknown) poets
was divided into five pravAha (475 zloka in 95 vIci on lilA, 895
zloka in 179 vIci on zRGgAra, 270 zloka in 54 vIci on cATu, 360
zloka in 72 vIci on apadeza, and 370 zloka in 74 vIci on uccAvaca).
Studying the names (apart from the well known zaraNa, umApati dhar,
jaYadeva,
govardhanAcArya, son of
nIlAmbara, author of a text on dharmazAstra, who wrote AryA
saptazati with help from udaYana and balabhadra, dhoYI
kavirAj who wrote pavanadUta, lakSmaNasena,
and kezavasena, we also find jalacandra, yogezvara, vaidya gaGgAdhara,
sAJcAdhara, vetAla, vyAsa kavirAja, kevaTa, papIpa, vaGgAla,
candracandra, gAGgoka, vimboka, zuGgoka, mathu, sAJcAdhara, etc.),
it seems likely that many of the poets were bengali, though, of
course, the collection also contains poems by such well known
non-bengalis as pANini, bhAsa, bhAravi, kAlidAsa, bhAmaha, amaru,
vANabhaTTa, vilhaNa, bhartRhari, muJja, rAjazekhara, vAkpatirAja,
and vizAkhadatta. Other examples of compositions from this period
may be found in inscriptions like bhavadeva prazasti, bArAkapUra
and deopAD.A prazasti under
vijaYasena, naihATi prazasti
under vallAlasena, and AnuliYA,
govindapUra, and tarpanadIghi-zAsana prazasti and mAdhAinagara
paTTolI under
lakSmaNasena. The
vRhaddharma and brahmavaivarta purANas are
only slightly later.

On the musical front, caryApada was set to
rAgAs, as were the songs of
gItagovinda. In addition,
locanapaNDita wrote a treatise on music called
rAgataraGginI in which he quotes from the earlier
tumburunATaka. Though rAgatarGginI
contains obviously late (14th century) references, it is possible
that the core was composed in 1160 AD under
vallAlasena. locana also wrote
rAgasaGgItasaMgraha. Slightly later,
zArGgadeva (1210–1247) composed saGgIta
ratnAkara.